Satirical Cartoon depicting Rev Ian Paisley and Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich

Satirical Cartoon depicting Rev Ian Paisley and Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich

LGBTQ cartoons
Satirical cartoons
Gay rights
LGBTQ suicide
Gay activism
Activism (LGBTQ)
Religion

Satirical cartoon showing Rev Ian Paisley (1926-2014), Northern Irish Protestant religious leader and founder of the 'Save Ulster from Sodomy' campaign, and Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich (1923-1990), leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, united in their opposition to gay rights. Both men are depicted clasping hands while standing on a coffin and there is a scroll with the words 'More gay suicides in Eire', implying that these religious leaders' anti-gay stance would lead to increased suicide rates among the LGBT community in Ireland. The cartoon's main slogan 'At Last...A United Ireland' is ironic because both men were from opposite political and religious traditions: Paisley was a prominent Unionist politician determined to keep Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and Ó Fiaich as an Irish Catholic was associated with the Nationalist community whose aspiration is a united Ireland.

Original entry written by Michael Fryer 22/02/2021.

Tony Dallas

Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association Papers

1980

Reproduced with permission of the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland. Items in this digital archive are covered by a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No-Derivatives License. Please credit the LGBT HERITAGE PROJECT Northern Ireland, and provide a link back to this site.

English

Satirical cartoon

1980
Republic of Ireland
Northern Ireland